I had a great time at Mercy Hospital Emergency Department, and learned a ton. I am sad that the 5 weeks went by so quickly!
On my last few days I took some pictures to share with all you readers, enjoy!
A picture of the entrance to the ED, with the signs lit up!….then I had to Instagram it, of course!
An ambulance in the ED garage.
My Instagrammed picture of the syringe labels, used to quickly label a drug after it’s drawn up for the few seconds – minutes before it’s administered to a patient.
The RSI Box includes all the medications that might be needed for Rapid Sequence Intubation. Medications are used to sedate and then temporarily paralyze the patient for proper placement of the breathing tube.
One of the “Stab Rooms” (pronounced ‘stabe’) – short for Stabilization. The cart with blue drawers is the adult crash cart, with all the medications needed to treat a patient in cardiac arrest
The cart with colorful drawers is the Pediatric Crash Cart, which has supplies and medications needed to treat infants and children. When the weight of the child is unknown, it is estimated using the Broslow Tape (pictured on the right) which is used like a ruler to measure the length of the child. Based on their length they fall into a certain color category which corresponds to a specific drawer on the Crash Cart.
The ER chest pain box has a lot of medications needed for patients who present with chest pain: aspirin, nitroglycerin, heparin, etc.
Just filling out the Care Board, with Dr. Ervasti (that’s me, in less than a year!) as the Provider! hehe
Probably the best advice for any ER Pharmacist. KEEP CALM and DO YOUR JOB! 🙂
I will miss my preceptors dearly! Thank you so much for the wonderful experience!!
Another thing I will miss is the friendly nurses, doctors, technicians, and housekeeping staff who made me feel welcome during my 5 week experience. Especially the nurse to whom I was known as “minion.” Everyday I saw this nurse, he greeted me with a head nod and “Hello, minion,” or simply “miniON” with the emphasis on the second half of the word which makes it sound French or something. It made me laugh every time, thinking about the minions in Despicable Me 2 (great movie), and the fact that this nurse was tall, bald, and somewhat resembled Shrek in a good way….
Thanks for reading!
– The Minion
PS. I got called a minion at my new rotation today….haha, perhaps I will have to make this into a halloween costume.